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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chip — to eat
  3. wax — to grow
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. spring — a coil
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. bound — tied together
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. pitch — completely
  14. spring — of water
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. ball — a great time
  17. chair — a leader
  18. ball — a dance
  19. bound — certain
  20. chip — for betting
  21. spring — the season
  22. bound — obliged
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. chip — in a computer

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com